


River of Chrysanthemums

by TheWanderingWandererWonders



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Brotherly Love, Character Study, China, Food, M/M, Platonic Relationships, Tea, china bein an old man, chrysanthemum, cuz why not?, france and england's friendly rivaly in the background, so get your mind out of the gutter, wrote this while high on sleep deprivation ngl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:41:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24957760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWanderingWandererWonders/pseuds/TheWanderingWandererWonders
Summary: Someone was missing, and for the first time in forever, it wasn't Canada.
Relationships: China & Japan (Hetalia), China/Food, China/Rome (Hetalia), Germany/North Italy (Hetalia), hints of FrUK - Relationship
Comments: 6
Kudos: 39





	River of Chrysanthemums

**Author's Note:**

> I got bored and decided to do a character study. also it was about 4 am when i was writing this

China was wide awake, he had adjusted his position for more than five times now, the bed creaking loudly under his movement. It was one of those nights where he had gotten to bed too early and he was once again letting his mind wander to seemingly everywhere.

Frustrated, he decided to get up and brew some tea. 

He strode along his garden feeling the light breeze that nipped his skin, the moon was beautiful tonight, the rabbits are diligently pounding medicine…. or rice cake...

He stopped by a patch of yellow flowers, chrysanthemums, fragrant as ever. The scissor's metal glistened under the moonlight as he snipped some of the flowers and threw them into the porcelain teapot. He only walked a certain distance before he reached his destination, a small resting area in the middle of the lush garden. 

The teapot is steaming, letting out the fragrant scent of flowers. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, patience was needed for a good cup of tea. 

Other than the effects of calming that the chrysanthemum had, the flower was also a symbol for longevity for its healing capabilities. For the longest time, he thought that Rome would stay by his side as two big empires on the opposite ends of the world, two sides of the same coin and all that. 

Now he was alone, what was left of him was only two of his sons, Rome had given him one last letter before he marched into what was unknowingly, his last battle. The letter was preserved in a box along with several other ones.

He looks up to the sky

"Aiyah Daqin… till now you still plague my mind, when will it be time when I can play weiqi with you again."

He only sighed and shook his head, he focused back on his teapot. It had long finished tainting the water to a soft golden color.

Pouring the liquid into the cup, his mind had drifted yet again.

The golden liquid reminded him of his youth, when he was the famed middle kingdom, the centre of the earth, basking in glory and gold. The famed middle kingdom was all but a name, only Zhong Guo. 

Days that turn into months and decades pass by, wars and peacetime spinning before and after each other a seemingly endless cycle. Just how long will the peace las-

_ *Crack* _

Oh..

He gripped his teacup too hard, the tea was burning but he paid it no mind. Some of the pieces of the porcelain cup had long drifted with the liquid gold. 

China sighs loudly and looks at the tea forming a river that drips down to the floor. 

  
  
  


_ Drip.. _

  
  
  


_ Drip.. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Huang… shui…. 

  
  
  
  
  


Yellow….. 

  
  
  


water…. 

  
  


The Yellow river, his birthplace. The place where he had risen from seemingly out of nowhere from the depths of the golden murky waters. 

He had been so young back then, not knowing who he was, and what he was. Only that he was there. The little memories he had of the past was as murky as the river he emerged from. The only thing he remembered were constant floods. 

Whenever he found himself visiting, he had always been at peace, letting the waters cradle him. Like a mother would with her child.

He needed a break anyway

Pulling out his phone, he orders a plane ticket to SanMenXia.

.

Morning came and the conference hall was as loud as ever.

"All your ideas suck cuz' it ain't my idea! What we need to do is, we need to employ superheroes to glue the ozone hole!!! Easy as that!" America exclaimed loudly to the whole room.

On the head of the table was Germany, he is currently face planted to the table, it was natural. After all the discussion had been going on for two whole hours to no end.

Italy raised his hand up giddily in excitement.

"Oh oh! We can use pasta as the main source of energy for the superheroes!" 

"Great thinking Italy! Now we just need someone to make the superglue!" The topic of superglue was continued on by some other nations.

At the other end of the table was England who was on top of France and had him in a chokehold, both of them screaming insults at each other. A long and decades old rivalry with none coming out as a winner.

Until a country asked about the absence of refreshments on the table.

The place quickly quieted down and erupted into murmurs. Every country knew that the one who usually prepared the snacks was China. No one complained of course, the sweets and cakes he brought were unrivaled and the tea he brewed as a side had received countless compliments.

The table is indeed empty, absent of the carefully placed snacks. 

The soft murmurs soon erupted into a louder discussion.

Germany bangs his hand on the table for everyone's attention.

"Now listen here! If we want to do this meeting we need to do it right! that is not talking for more than 10 minutes at a time! Raise your hand before talking or objecting!

Stay-"

He pointed at England and France who was still in the middle of an all out brawl with each other. They shuffled around for a second before quickly getting back to their seats.

-At your designated seats! And no-"

The tangent goes on for a bit before finally finishing, the conference hall was enveloped into silence.

The meeting proceeded a bit more smoothly after that, after some time the snacks arrived, some cookies and a glass of water. Japan hesitated before grabbing the cookie and taking a bite out of it. It was a decently made cookie that sent out sparks of an old memory.

  
  
  


.

.

.

  
  
  
  


_ China grimaced at the cookie that he had just taken a bite from. If looks could kill, the cookie would surely turn to dust under his glare. _

_ Japan has been observing him for a while and he couldn't help but feel worried for him. _

_ "Uhm china san, are you alright?" _

_ "Aiya who is the baker that made this disgrace of a cookie, of all my life in four thousand years i have never eaten something so bad aru" _

_ Japan had thought that the cookie itself wasn't really so bad before he could say anything; however, China had continued on. _

_ "No need to worry aru, from now on I will make the refreshments!" he exclaimed loudly, from then on the refreshments were always delicious, no more stale cookies and weirdly tasting cupcakes. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


.

.

.

  
  
  
  
  
  


The cookie japan was eating suddenly tastes bitter and unpleasant. He grits his teeth and downs some of the water to wash it down.

.

China took a deep breath and lowered himself to the yellow water, he doesn't know how exactly, but the waters had always welcomed him, cradling him and giving him a peace of mind. He lays there and lets the currents take him, the waters won't let him stray too far.

He takes a deep breath and lets himself be cradled by the running waters of HuangHe.

He exhaled and felt himself drift into a state of meditation.

Near the river was a thick forest of bamboo, the wind blew over them creating a tune as the hollow bamboos bumps into each other. The bird chirps happily as it flies freely in the sky.

He gazes into the endless sky filled with drifting clouds that mirror himself, not letting himself think much of anything else. He came here for peace after all, why would he think of anything else?

Closing his eyes, he continues listening to the sounds. Seconds pass and turn into minutes, minutes which soon turn into hours. The days pass by quicker as he drifts. He hadn't realized how fast time is passing, time passes much differently for him than the younglings, such things come with having immortality.

.

The streets were crowded as the nations retreated to their hotels. The meeting ended in another failure as usual. Germany, Italy and Japan were walking out of the building chatting. Japan however, is a bit quieter than usual. They are heading to a cafe to get some drinks.

Italy was still in the middle of bothering Germany, when all of a sudden they heard a banging sound from behind, turns out Japan had run into a pole. Japan rubbed his head as he grimaced, he had been too deep into thought to care about his surroundings.

  
  
  


Germany rushes over to Japan's side and inspects his head.

"Japan, are you alright?"

"Y-yes i am alright Germany-san"

"You can tell us! After all, we're friends, aren't we?" Italy said.

The trio began to walk again, this time making sure japan wasn't going to be hitting another pole.

"You know you've been quiet all day, is something the matter?"

  
  


Japan picked up his pace "It's just that, china san has been missing for a while now, he didn't even attend the usual weiqi sessions that he usually has with me" 

Japan had tried to phone his brother, but was only able to get missed calls. It was a peculiar thing seeing that it's usual for China to miss their sessions, even more so a world conference.

Italy kept a smile "Veee~ maybe he just forgot?"

"No, it is not like him to forget."

They continued on the conversation, debating on what to do. A conclusion was made, that they will be paying a visit to China's.

And so they did.

  
  
  
  


.

  
  
  
  


They arrived at China's house. The house itself was reminiscent of the olden times. It seems like China had never really moved his house for over hundreds of years. The only differences are the lights and electricity really.

The door creaked open ominously when they tried to knock on it. Hallways dark and cold, usually China would scramble around before finally answering the door. They find it slightly unnerving.

  
  
  


The trio spreaded out and snooped around. 

  
  
  


Germany found himself in a room that was open to a garden of various flowers, medicinal herbs and vegetables. 

He intrusively thought about China keeping himself busy by taking care of a big garden like this. He never really expected China as a gardener. 

The smell of chrysanthemum wafted in the air and he followed it. 

It led him to a small resting area in the middle of the lush garden. 

He steps on something, liquid splashes around his boots and he notices a porcelain cup broken into pieces on the table. A teapot still filled halfway with chrysanthemum tea.

No doubt China was here before he decided to disappear. He called over Japan and Italy, who had just arrived at the garden, to the resting area.

Japan arrived at the scene and proceeded to bend down and take a piece of what was once a porcelain teacup. Japan unknowingly bit down on his lip as he hisses. Blood had already dropped down to the marbled floor, reflecting his pained expression. He realized that he had accidentally clenched the broken piece against his palm.

Germany was startled and asked if he was alright.

Of course he wasn't, but finally, he knew where China was.

  
  
  


.

  
  


.

  
  


.

  
  
  


How many days have passed now? Does it matter? He felt like he was just water, passing through the river calmly.

  
  
  
  


But before that he was a raging fire.

A fire that strived to be the biggest of them all, ambitious and careless, young and foolish. He had seen how countries come and go, no matter how big they were, time would soon take them.

And he knew he had to change, a fire was indeed great. But no matter the size of it, there was no such thing as eternal fire. It would fizzle out sooner or later.

  
  
  


Water however, will change, adapt and become water once more. Water can also become just as devastating as a fire, the frequent floods had taught him that. 

Endless changing tides, perpetually reshaping oneself to fit a mold, no meaning other than to just be.

Fire had a purpose of becoming bigger and devouring any in its path. It would die out in glory leaving a more significant mark on the world. It would die yes, but it had a purpose

  
  
  
  
  


A small silhouette can be seen in the distance finally snapping him out of the seemingly endless trance.

Japan was there, his hands were messily bandaged, a very poor and rushed job.

China scrambled on top of the river, what was once a peaceful river was now distuberd by heavy splashing. He quickly swam to the edge of the yellow river and grasped the bloodied hand careful to not injure it more.

  
  
  


"Aiya japan, i only left for a couple days and you have already gotten hurt" he scolded, japan only smiled seemingly unfazed by the constant scolding the elder nation was giving him.

"You have been gone for weeks nii-san"

"Oh" China looked down, feeling a bit guilty. But wait, a couple weeks!? Does that mean that he-

"You had also forgotten to attend the world conference" Japan helpfully supplied. 

China chuckled "please forgive this elder brother then, i've been dragged to the past for far too long" he looked up at the looming sun in the distance, just inches away from turning the world into darkness. 

"Don't worry about me too much, regardless of the injury, the day it will heal will come aru."

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> China's character has interested me for a looong time now. as a person who lived over 4000 years and stuff. immortals are quite frankly, fun to write. the metaphors shown in the chapter about how quickly growing nations were almost like fire is the result of my tiredness, so yup completely authentic. i could rant on about China's character but... that would probably bore you. I hope you liked it! constructive criticism is always welcomed.


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